A group of mothers who marched to Parliament yesterday to protest against the killing of innocent children, said they felt angry and disrespected when no one from the provincial police pitched up to accept their memorandum of demands.
The Mom’s Move for Justice organisation, and the Alcardo Andrews Foundation, together staged a human-chain march from the Grand Parade to Parliament.
Alcardo Andrews Foundation founder Avril Andrews said that despite the Mitchells Plain police cluster saying there would be a representative to accept the memorandum, there was no one.
“I am actually extremely disappointed. We communicated via email after personal meetings with the police. It’s truly disappointing. They are disrespecting our women,” she said.
Andrews, who lost her son in gang violence during October 2015, says she wants all mothers to get justice for losing their children in senseless killings.
Her son's murderer was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Women in the group were emotional as prayers were said and they recounted their ordeals.
“We launched this initiative last year at the start of Women’s Month, but how can we celebrate women when there are so many of them grieving? Mothers have lost their children and their cases have not even commenced yet. When will they get justice for their innocent children?” Andrews asked.
“This killings have to stop, and we want to work together with the police and government, but how can we work together if this is how we are being disrespected?”
The march marked one year since the group gathered at the same place to call on the police and government to act on gang violence, and yet, according to the group, “little to nothing has been done”.
In the memorandum they intended to hand over, the organisation demanded that misplaced and lost dockets be retrieved, and for families to receive feedback.
They also called for pending murder cases “including the list handed to Lentegeur police station” to be expedited.
Community Police Forum cluster chairperson Lucinda Evans said: “It is shameful that none of the government departments came to pick up the memorandum from the mothers.
“When will they realise that we are serious? We have had enough. Do they want us to stand at the international airport, at the international arrivals, with our placards saying ‘Welcome to Cape Town where your innocent children will be murdered’? Will they listen then?” Evans said.